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A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

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Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#92
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Longhorn sabotage, Midori, Project Reunion? Could you give a bit more background for those of us like me who aren't up to date with Microsoft internal projects and politics?

To fully get where I am coming from, you have to go back to when .NET was released. .NET was supposed to be the great reunification of VB, C++ and COM runtimes, then also got a Java touch into the mix and .NET happenend (initially was known as Ext-VOS). https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/archive/blogs/dsyme/more-c-... Hence why CLR is just like WASM + GC if you prefer a modern comparisasion. If you go back into web arc…

Thanks for the context. It's very frustrating as a .NET developer that infighting set back .NET GUI development by 10 years. There's still no supported way to use DirectX from .NET. All the new GUI tech is moving in the right direction but is unfinished to the point that still only WPF and WinForms can meet my requirements. I really wanted to ditch WPF since the DirectX 11 -> DirectX 9 (WPF) interop is so hacky.

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#93
post #4

It seems almost inevitable that Windows will eventually become a Linux distro. Microsoft could replace incredibly resilient cruft like NTFS with EXT4 or ZFS and the registry with human readable configuration files. On the other hand, they could replace Bash with PowerShell and hopefully pressure various orgs to adopt some sensible subset of configuration formats.

> replace Bash with PowerShell On the contrary I wish Windows shipped with busybox, so that it would be easier to run scripts with some bashisms portably.

I know everyone here really likes Linux, but bash is kinda a joke compared to powershell when it comes to usability. Everything from the way piping works to function names, makes powershell easier for the beginner and memorability. The best way to figure out how to do something in bash is to google it and hope someone answered the question in SO. With powershell I just go to ms docs and scroll through the functions until I see the one function name that is self descriptive, and after a 2 min read of the docs I’m usually set.

That’s not to say powershell is perfect but on the whole it’s a lot easier to find the thing you’re looking for, and you don’t usually have to wade through SO snark to do it.

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#94
post #87
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's unfortunately their loss in my opinion. Windows has a pretty awesome development story, far better than Apple's authoritarian hold on what software can be run and distributed for that platform. Moreover, gaming is great on Windows, and always has been, and WSL2 is extremely slick.

WSL2 is slick, but the process of getting on Windows Insider Program and updating Windows to the right version is quite clunky.

You no longer have to be a member of the Windows Insider Program. There's a simplified installation method if you are, but if you're not, you can install WSL2 manually.

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#95
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile no one at Apple is using windows unless they have to for very specific software.

That's unfortunately their loss in my opinion. Windows has a pretty awesome development story, far better than Apple's authoritarian hold on what software can be run and distributed for that platform. Moreover, gaming is great on Windows, and always has been, and WSL2 is extremely slick.

You realize there’s no issue with development internally for Apple products at Apple on macOS, right?

And generally if you work at Apple you actually like/prefer/love Apple products?

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#96
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile no one at Apple is using windows unless they have to for very specific software.

That's unfortunately their loss in my opinion. Windows has a pretty awesome development story, far better than Apple's authoritarian hold on what software can be run and distributed for that platform. Moreover, gaming is great on Windows, and always has been, and WSL2 is extremely slick.

Gaming is, in fact, the only reason to have Windows installed on any computer. Even though Wine and Proton are impressive projects, I'm somewhat pessimistic about their ability to completely replace Windows.

I won't be sad if I'm wrong there.

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#97
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's unfortunately their loss in my opinion. Windows has a pretty awesome development story, far better than Apple's authoritarian hold on what software can be run and distributed for that platform. Moreover, gaming is great on Windows, and always has been, and WSL2 is extremely slick.

Gaming is, in fact, the only reason to have Windows installed on any computer. Even though Wine and Proton are impressive projects, I'm somewhat pessimistic about their ability to completely replace Windows. I won't be sad if I'm wrong there.

Right now, it's a bit like using Firefox instead of Chrome. They both render the website but some devs exploit Chrome only tech that Firefox hasn't yet implemented workarounds for and those won't work.

If you're ok with that, you can officially replace windows with Linux.

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#98
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you go out out of your way to disable code signing using the terminal & a root account, macOS will only run code signed by an Apple issued certificate [1]. It will also phone home [2] every time a binary is ran for the first time. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatekeeper_(macOS) [2] https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/391399

You can literally just right click and press 'open'. Might not be obvious to the layman, but you don't need to do a whole code signing bypass song and dance.

I can't edit my comment so I'll just put this here: what is up with HN heavily downvoting factual, useful information? It seems something from the past 1-1.5y or so and it infuriates me to no end.

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#99

It's neat to see this! But somehow, an RPM based distro, that solely documents its instructions for Ubuntu feels very something.

Less talked about is CBL-D, a Deb packaging based Microsoft Debian distro that powers Azure Cloud Shell. https://rasmusg.net/2020/12/01/updates-to-cloud-shell-docker...

Re: A Look into CBL-Mariner, Microsoft’s Internal Linux Distribution

#100

A MS dev writing a blog on building MS’ own distro of Linux on his _Macbook_ must have Ballmer sweating bullets.

Fortunately, nobody has to care what Ballmer thinks anymore.

IMO he, even moreso than BillG, was the animus behind the insanely cultish POV that MSFT had for a long, long time. As recently as 2009, working there led otherwise smart people to say really dumb things for, I guess, political reasons.

I'm in the project management space. We have a product that compliments Project Server, and early on we did lots of joint deals with MSFT's Proj Server unit. Even well after the introduction of the iPhone -- which, for most phone makers, was a serious wakeup call about what you could do with a phone -- they acted like it was a personal insult every time they saw a professional associate using something other than Windows Mobile. "Get one of these! It's just as good!"

Keep in mind that, in 2009, WinMo was a complete dumpster fire. App availability was awkward (no built-in stores yet), but there were MONSTROUS gaps in capability in the devices out of the box. For example, the native mail client couldn't do IMAP. But sure, it's "just as good".

iPods -- which were really ubiquitous -- set them off, too. And if you mentioned having a PlayStation, they'd want to know why you didn't have an XBox instead. They had "amnesty barrels" you could throw away your non-MSFT tech in. It was really, really, really goofy and rah-rah and honestly creepy.

You notice how, today, MSFT actually understands they're part of a diverse computing landscape? Sharepoint actually works on non-MSFT browsers, for example. Office 365 runs like a champ in pretty much ANY decent browser, on any platform. I can run a real iOS build of Office on my iPad, and the Mac version is really great.

ALL OF THIS is post-Ballmer.

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